Beyond the Multiplex

"Live!" Sleazy but highly entertaining story of a TV executive who goes too far, actually commissioning a Russian-roulette reality show. Overall the package is a little too slick, but Bill Guttentag's film is worth seeing for the slinky, snakelike, sexy and oddly vulnerable performance of Eva Mendes, a star-making role if I've ever seen one. (Still not acquired.)

"Still Life" This whimsical, wistful slow-motion docudrama, shot on the immense demolition site surrounding China's Three Gorges Dam, might be the American breakthrough for Jia Zhangke, one of international cinema's brightest young stars. Admittedly, all I mean by that is that a few big-city theaters might do well with it, or at least better than they did with Jia's 2005 film "The World." Still, whether anyone sees it or not, "Still Life" is both heartfelt and cinematically impressive. (Plans for U.S. release are forthcoming.)

"Taxi to the Dark Side" I've already discussed this documentary by Alex Gibney ("Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room"), which traces the recent history of torture and abuse by U.S. forces in the course of the "war on terror," from the little-known prisons of Afghanistan to Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay. As I wrote then, it's a chilling and even sickening experience, clearly one of the year's most important films. I can only hope it reaches audiences sooner rather than later. (Still not acquired.)

"This Is England" Self-taught director Shane Meadows ("Once Upon a Time in the Midlands") has quietly become one of the most appealing and accomplished of younger British filmmakers. This bittersweet reminiscence of his misspent '80s youth -- as a baby skinhead in a low-level gang in the depressed English city of Nottingham -- could have wide appeal (although American audiences are going to need subtitles for the thick northern accents). Tremendously acted and warm, but also unsparing in its portrayals; it's "The 400 Blows" plus "The Breakfast Club," with peg-leg jeans, Doc Martens and hardcore music. (Will be released this summer by IFC.)

"Times and Winds" This tremendously atmospheric Turkish film, following three rural preteens through the patterns of daily life, risks one of the hoariest clichés in world cinema -- the bucolic "village film" -- and delivers a haunting, exquisite experience. This one's destined for very limited release, if that, but don't be scared off. It's lovely. (Still not acquired.)

"We Are Together" I didn't see this reportedly rousing documentary about a choir of South African children -- all AIDS orphans and many of them HIV-positive -- but it was Tribeca's only rip-roaring, solid-gold hit. Alicia Keys and Bono hobnobbed at the premiere, but it was the real-life kids' struggles and triumphs that reduced audiences to tears. (Plans for U.S. release will be announced soon.)

"You Kill Me" A sly if not entirely graceful black comedy from veteran genre director John Dahl ("The Last Seduction," "Rounders"), this played to packed-to-the-rafters theaters at Tribeca, and looks like a sleeper hit in waiting. What's enjoyable about "You Kill Me" is its total rejection of all responsibility: Ben Kingsley plays an alcoholic Polish-American hit man with no intention of abandoning his vocation, and a marvelously funny Téa Leoni is the acid-tongued new girlfriend who decides she likes him the way he is. Implausible and unconvincing on many levels, but played dead straight, which means it's very funny. (Opens June 22.)

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